Armed struggle - Fatah’s focus for 2021

These days, Abbas’ Fatah Movement is busy highlighting its upcoming 56th anniversary. “The Launch” of Fatah is counted from its first terror attack against Israel, when the movement attempted to blow up Israel's National Water Carrier on Jan. 1, 1965.

In line with earlier years’ celebrations and anniversary posters and logos, Fatah this year too focuses on the “armed struggle” and its continued uncompromising attitude towards peace with Israel.

The central image on Fatah’s poster above is a line of masked men holding Kalashnikov assault rifles, while text glorifies “the revolution.”

Text at bottom of image: “Long live the anniversary of the outbreak of the modern Palestinian revolution
Revolution until victory”

Posted text: “The anniversary approaches
#Fatah56
#Intilaqa” (i.e, “The Launch”)

[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 17 and 21, 2020;
Facebook page of Fatah Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul, Dec. 21, 2020]

The poster also carries a logo made for Fatah’s 56th anniversary. At the bottom it includes the PA map of “Palestine” that presents all of Israel together with the PA areas as “Palestine.”

Another Fatah anniversary logo – presented by Fatah as “the official logo” - includes the barrel of a rifle (above the digit 6 in “56” and the PA map of “Palestine” (behind the number “56”):

Text on bottom left of logo: “The path of the loyal”
Text in upper right corner of image: “#Fatah56”
Text on bottom of image: “The 56th anniversary of the Intilaqa
The Palestinian National Liberation Movement – ‘Fatah’”

Posted text: “The official logo of the 56th anniversary of the Intilaqa of the Fatah rebel.
#The_path_of_the_loyal
#Fatah_56”

[Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Dec. 21, 2020,
Facebook page of the Fatah Movement – Nablus Branch, Dec. 21, 2020]

To further emphasize terror as the core of Fatah’s essence, Fatah paid tribute to “female fighter Hamama Al-Dalki” who the movement said “carried the explosives on her head… for the squad” that carried out Fatah’s first terror attack. Fatah stressed that she was “the first female hero in Fatah’s armed activity and participated in the bombing of the Eilabun tunnel”:

Fatah posted some recent pictures of former terrorist Hamama Al-Dalki

Following the same ideology, Abbas’ Deputy Chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul encouraged Palestinians to take to the streets “escalating the popular resistance” – a term used by PA leaders at times to refer to peaceful protest and at times to refer to deadly terror attacks and terror waves.

Al-Aloul stated that “the torches of the outbreak of the revolution will be lit in all the districts,” adding “that the activities on the following day… will focus on increasing and escalating the popular resistance at the points of friction with the occupation and at the sites that are threatened by the settlement enterprise.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 27, 2020]

The following are longer excerpts of the texts cited above:

Posted text: “Fatah Movement Deputy Chairman [and Fatah Central Committee member] brother Mahmoud Al-Aloul ‘Abu Jihad’ expressed condolences on behalf of His Honor [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas], the Palestinian leadership, and Fatah on the death of female fighter Hamama Al-Dalki… who was among the first female heroes in Fatah’s armed activity and participated in the bombing of the Eilabun tunnel (i.e., attempted bombing of Israel’s National Water Carrier)…
Today, Wednesday [Dec. 16, 2020], Fatah eulogized fighter Hamama Hussein Al-Dalki, sister of the commander of the Eilabun squad, Martyr Hussein Al-Dalki.
In a statement, Fatah said that Hamama was the one who carried the explosives on her head… for the squad to a distance of more than two kilometers.
It added: ‘Without Hamama, her brother, and those who were with him, there would have been no Intilaqa (i.e., Launch of Fatah) and the tunnel would not have been bombed.’”

[Official Fatah Facebook page, Dec. 16, 2020]

Bombing of Israel's National Water Carrier - On Jan. 1, 1965, Palestinian terrorists attempted to bomb Israel's National Water Carrier. This was the first attack against Israel carried out by Fatah. Fatah refers to the attack as the “Intilaqa”, meaning “the Launch” of Fatah.

Headline: “Al-Aloul: The torch lighting for the 56th anniversary of the outbreak of the revolution will take place on Thursday evening next to Martyr Yasser Arafat’s mausoleum”

“Fatah Movement Deputy Chairman [and Fatah Central Committee member] Mahmoud Al-Aloul announced that the torch lighting for the 56th anniversary of the outbreak of the Palestinian revolution (i.e., the anniversary of “the Launch” of Fatah, counted from its first terror attack against Israel) will take place on Thursday evening [Dec. 31, 2020], next to [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Martyr leader Yasser Arafat’s mausoleum at the [PA] presidential headquarters in Ramallah.
Participation will be limited due to the Coronavirus.

In an interview with [the official PA] radio [station] The Voice of Palestine yesterday, Al-Aloul added that the torches of the outbreak of the revolution will be lit in all the districts, and that the activities on the following day… will focus on increasing and escalating the popular resistance (i.e., term used by Palestinians, which also refers to the use of violence and terror) at the points of friction with the occupation and at the sites that are threatened by the settlement enterprise…

Regarding the American decision to mark products from the settlements as Israeli, Al-Aloul said that the decision is ‘an illegal step and part of a series of decisions whose goal is to legalize the settlement enterprise.’ He noted that there is a decision by the united national leadership to begin reviving the economic resistance, and to boycott all the Israeli goods and not just those from the settlements.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 27, 2020]